, 1887-07-28
Z THE CHINESE IN NEW YORK.
Allan Turnan Writes Gn-tTuctiveIy of
Their Was ard Their Projects.

ih. - ~ N@tN- slftA MIR lEhsIttlN
-E--.sl CorreSpon.i.noe-l
The Chinese population in New York is
rra as. . ..g:,rIyhiug out into new lines of in
dU,t:-- -.. cuIttion, ana from being mainly
emil . .rInirymeu they are gradually
woIk.a mir way into various other trades
ami u., -.ta~>.~-
Tuvl...r u number of first class Chinese
grocer .la fancy goods stores in the Chinese
quart Pc a. .,.-.l IL "a half dozen restaurants.
II l. ,..a .--...cI5liy known, but there is con-
sideI..--. .,!tal behind these unpretentious
shops. lu; Sing, the genial grocer, for ex-
ample. l. worth at least $500, 900.
wong Il Choug, the importer, IS a
two millionaire Tom Lee, QuOng
Hum I.pu- and Tuck Hi have each over
SIOnpD aui Wo kec of Mott street. is said
To- b. worth S25O.GJO. But they are
cautious investors and prefer the slow and
slf;. ,v>tain of moderate investments and
small profits rather than the more brilliant
and risky financial methods OF their Cau-
casian brothers. They are great people for
stock companies or SyndlcateS. Their res
taur;tlIts are largely run on the stock COM
pauy plan, n number of capitalists beng IN
terest-sl in each of the larger ones. An ex-
amuIe uf this syndicate system OF speculation
occurred last May, when there was wonder
fuI rat % O. nlarkercl eff the coast and II ,OOO,-
uro, lh, fish We're thrown upon the New
York market iii one day. Ihe market
was ..lut,"f: over 1,OOO,OO0 were not
uSei Tut were thrown into the river by
tn. I.-...I.,..n- Prices dropped from ten cents
to ol, ;,s',i :, half cents a pound, and then to
five l:i:ts.l.ural for cent. With the drop in
price, % ,r,rii"are was formed 10y a number Of
the y,,.,liiy residents of Chinatown, and
about fuur millions of the fish We're purchased
For. week Mott street reeked with the smell
of smoked mackerel, dried mackerel, picked
Tlarkt-;,-l aud ~ouSed mackereL Everybody
was at work curing the fish, and III less than
sixty ,Iay, the cure,i fish were sold at clear
profit of something over Sl5O,OOO, and the
original investment, including hire of the men
who .,ure,l and packed the fish, could not have
been over Sl4, 600.
For some time Wong Chin Foo, the enter
prisin.r voung MongOl who ran The Chinese
Ames-! ali. has been agitating the subject Of
a Chinese theatre. The Chinese population
i'll New Yurl; and vicinity is large enough to
make IL Il paying Investment, and Wong cal
Culate,l upon receiving substantial support
from novelty loving New Workers. The
schemes of the eX-journalist did not, how
ever. find favor i'll the eyes OF the conserva-
i've tslll lllSlS. NOtIiJ it1OSl
his i,Iea and are quietly organizing syndi-
cat.. of their own. They propose to lease for
a long term one of the smaller theatres in the
loves. eIid of the Bowery or possibly large
dime lnris-un. They will thoroughly over
haul it and fit it up to present the highest
class of Chinese plays with first class stock
company The main difficulty is importing
the company, not only because of the eX-
pens Of getting them over, passages and sal
aries which are no small item, but also on ac-
count of the strimgency of the laws relating to
Chinese immigration. Another expensive
| feature is the costumes. A Chinese theatre has
practically no scenery, but the costumes are
magnificent In the Chinese theatre in San
| Franc Sco the costumes are kepti i'll large chests
| at the laCli OF the stage and the actors take
I them ont and put them away i'll full view Of
| the audience. The richest silks, most expen-
sive and elaborate embroideries in gold and
! silver thread, and swords and armor of the
! finest lacquer incrusted with gold and gems
are required by the critical Chinese audience.
| The orchestra sits on the stage and to Ameri-
can ears Chinese music is a wild, weird
thing Expert jugglers and tumblers are also
always included i'll a Celestial theatrical
! company. These people draw good salaries,
/ SO it can lie easily estimated that starting q
] AutiitSS lItilit II Il VI ilO lllJlC tA-
pemse The Chinanian, though, is sure if he is
/ slow, and once the idea has taken root in his
mind, as this has under the pigtaiis of the
| Vanderbilts of Mott street, he will stick to il
until it is accomplished.
ga
! The Japanese village, which had such run
| in New York, coupled with the fact that il
has become quite fad with certain class
of BuheEiiau New Workers to dine at the
/ Chin.>e restaurants, has planted another idea
I i'll the brains of the cautious Celestial million
aires. There is considerable talk among
| them of starting a Chinese restaurant to cater
/ for Caucasian patronage somewhere on upper
| Broadway, probably between Twenty-third
and Thirty third streets. This scheme has
| been iiuG lately broached, and / fancy that
| hap! enrl to be one of the first Americans tC
/ get wind of it. Until they know you the
Chinese are the most reticent people i'll the
world TEey even feign a lack of knowledge
! of English. They are courteous, obliging
! genllernanly, but they obstinately refuse tc
understand what you say to them. When
however, they become convinced that
you are "ho pang yo," which is the
! Chinese equivalent for a mighty good
| fellow, they become communicative and
| chatty enough This restaurant they pro
/ pose to fit up i'll Chinese styler and furnish
! Chimes. food cooked in the highest style OF
art. Their bill of fare is not half SO unat
I traciirc to the Caucasian palate as is gener.
| ally supposed. OF course it is conceded that
they can beat the world in tue preparation oi
rice anl tea. But i'll addition to this their
! macGr"tli, or "meu," as it is called, Is fully
equal 10 Neapo!itan spagatti. They excel the
French cooks in making chicken bouillon
and number of dishes which have no analo-
gies on our bill of fare are very toothsome
'Show-chop- op-suey," for example, is a stew
made of tripe chickens livers and giz
zardS, beans and celery. "Chop-seow'
is a delicious method of preparing roast
pork, while they have pastries and cakes and
confections i'll infinite variety l have taken
many friends through tie Chinese quarter
both here and i'll San Francisco, and have
| yet to find one who could not make a good
dinner out of the ordinary Chinese bin OF
F! fare.
Yet the popular prejudice is so strong that
L was by 10 means enthusiastic over the
scheme of my Chinese friends Notwith
standing the love of novelty in the average
New Yorker, he is very careful of what he
puts into his stomach, and I fancy that Wis
| ions of kittens and rats would keen the Chi
nese restaurant from being largely patron
| ized. can only say that have eaten many
| meals III thii"Se restaurants and have never
| knowingly e n anything of the kind If
| have uiI "r- i-'ft Is partakcn of a succulent
| pussy "' ~''''' I'D my lips over an unusually
dellcat" r'ai ut, mistaking it for something
else 'an only say that it was good, and
| - sa'' y. ALLAN FoRMAN.
The Home Kun Shoes, can be bought